Photography & Digital Art,Art & DesignAPR 2, 2025

"Spirits Of The Highlands": My 22 Photos Of Ponies That I Took In Scotland

Cue to 2021. I was photographing horses full-time — but only on other people’s terms. Commissioned shoots. Client visions. Endless feedback. And slowly, without realizing it, I lost sight of what I wanted to create.

Photography used to be the thing that made me feel most like myself. But somewhere along the way, I stopped listening to my own voice. So, I left. I packed my camera and flew to Scotland. That’s where I found the Highland ponies. They aren’t wild, but they live as if they are. Woolly and weathered, shaped by wind and stone. No halters. No handlers. No one telling them where to stand. Just their quiet rhythms, and the hills rolling behind them. They didn’t care what I wanted them to do — and that was the point. There was no pressure to perform.

I found something I didn’t know I’d lost: My way back to myself. These ponies reminded me of why I started creating in the first place — they took me back to my childhood, when I first picked up my mum’s old DSLR camera at 9 years old, and raced around the entire farm, photographing every animal and flower I ran upon.

Over four trips to the Highlands, I kept going back. It resulted in my collection "Spirits of the Highlands" that's now part of my Fine Art shop. If they speak to you too, you can explore the full series on my website.

More info: katjajensen.com | Instagram | Facebook

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"Spirits Of The Highlands": My 22 Photos Of Ponies That I Took In Scotland

27points

I grew up a quiet child, and discovered photography early on. I was around nine, I think, when I was allowed to borrow my mom’s DSLR camera. Photography opened doors for me, and let me express myself in ways I hadn’t been able to before. Animals were always my safe space, and naturally I wanted to honor and show that in my photography.

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I thought I was meant to train horses, and therefore took a year-long education in horse behavior and training, only to find out that I was meant to work with them in a completely different way. That early training fascination and the education shaped my knowledge around working with horses on their terms - skills I continue to hone each and every day.

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I go about my photography in a very non-practical, intuitive way. You’ll never find me planning a shoot all the way down into the tiniest details, as the horses always need me to be flexible and open to changing my plans. I always start from a feeling and go from there.

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15points

And that’s exactly what I want people to experience when they’re looking at my photographs. Feelings. Some get hit by childhood nostalgia, reminiscing about the horse at the ranch when they were little. Others may have never stood beside a horse, yet they still resonate with what they embody.

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